Braunschweig
Braunschweig ( ; Low German: Brunswiek ; "Brunswick" (definition 2), The American Heritage Dictionary p. 245 3d. ed. 1992), is a city of 250,556 people,"Bevölkerungsfortschreibung" (in German). Landesbetrieb für Statistik und Kommunikationstechnologie Niedersachsen. December 31, 2011. Accessed August 5, 2012. located in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser. History Foundation and early history The date and circumstances of the town's foundation are unknown. Tradition maintains that Braunschweig was created through the merger of two settlements, one founded by Brun(o), a Saxon count who died in 880, on one side of the river Oker – the legend gives the year 861 for the foundation – and the other the settlement of a legendary Count Dankward, after whom Dankwarderode Castle (Dankward's clearing), which was reconstructed in the 19th century, is named.Die Ersterwähnung von "Brunesguik" und die Gründungssage (in German). Retrieved on August 11, 2012. The town's original name of Brunswik is a combination of the name Bruno and Low German wik, a place where merchants rested and stored their goods. The town's name therefore indicates an ideal resting-place, as it lay by a ford across the Oker River. Another explanation of the city's name is that it comes from Brand, or burning, indicating a place which developed after the landscape was cleared through burning. The city was first mentioned in documents from the St. Magni Church from 1031, which give the city's name as Brunesguik. Middle Ages and early modern period Up to the 12th century Braunschweig was ruled by the Saxon noble family of the Brunonen, then, through marriage, it fell to the House of Welf. In 1142 Henry the Lion of the House of Welf became Duke of Saxony and made Braunschweig the capital of his state (which, from 1156 on, also included the Duchy of Bavaria). He turned Dankwarderode Castle, the residence of the counts of Braunschweig, into his own Pfalz and developed the city further to represent his authority. Under Henry's rule the Cathedral of St. Blasius was built and he also had the statue of a lion, his heraldic animal, erected in front of the castle. The lion subsequently became the city's landmark. Henry the Lion became so powerful that he dared to refuse military aid to the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, which led to his condemnation and fall. However, his son Otto (IV), who could regain influence and was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor, continued to foster the city's development. During the Middle Ages Braunschweig was an important center of trade, one of the economic and political centers in Northern Europe and a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th century to the middle of the 17th century. By the year 1600, Braunschweig was the seventh largest city in Germany. Although formally one of the residences of the rulers of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire, Braunschweig was de facto ruled independently by a powerful class of patricians and the guilds throughout much of the Late Middle Ages and the Early modern period. Because of the growing power of Braunschweig's burghers, the Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who ruled over one of the subdivisions of Brunswick-Lüneburg, finally moved their Residenz out of the city and to the nearby town of Wolfenbüttel in 1432. The Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel didn't regain control over the city until the late 17th century, when Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, took the city by siege. In the 18th century Braunschweig was not only a political, but also a cultural centre. Influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment Dukes like Anthony Ulrich and Charles I became patrons of the arts and sciences. In 1745 Charles I founded the Collegium Carolinum, predecessor of the Braunschweig University of Technology, and in 1753 he moved the ducal residence back to Braunschweig. With this he attracted poets and thinkers such as Lessing, Leisewitz, and Jakob Mauvillon to his court and the city. Emilia Galotti by Lessing and Goethe's Faust were performed for the first time in Braunschweig. 19th and early 20th century In 1806 the city was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and became part of the short-lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 Braunschweig was made capital of the reestablished independent Duchy of Brunswick, later a constituent state of the German Empire from 1871. During the 19th century industrialisation caused a rapid growth of population in the city, eventually causing Braunschweig to be for the first time significantly enlarged beyond its medieval fortifications and the river Oker.Geschichte des Östliche Ringgebiets (in German). Retrieved on February 16, 2013. At the end of World War I, on 8 November 1918, a socialist Workers' council forced Duke Ernest Augustus to abdicate his throne. On 10 November the council proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Brunswick under a one party government of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD). However, the subsequent elections on 22 December 1918 were won by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD), and USPD and MSPD formed a coalition government. In 1919 an uprising in Braunschweig, led by the communist Spartacus League, was defeated when Freikorps troops under Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker, by order of German Minister of Defence Gustav Noske, took over the city. Subsequently, a SPD-led government was established, and in December 1921 the new constitution of the Free State of Brunswick, now a parliamentary republic within the Weimar Republic, again with Braunschweig as its capital, was approved. During World War II thousands of forced Eastern workers were brought to the city. During the years 1943–1945 at least 360 children taken away from the workers died in the Entbindungsheim für Ostarbeiterinnen."Entbindungsheim für Ostarbeiterinnen" at http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/ (in German). Retrieved on August 11, 2012. During the war, Braunschweig was a Sub-area Headquarters (Untergebiet Hauptquartier) of Military District (Wehrkreis) XI. It was also the garrison city of the 31st Infanterie Division, which took part in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, France, and Russia, and was largely destroyed during the German withdrawal from Russia. The city was severely damaged by Anglo-American aerial attacks. The air raid on October 15, 1944 destroyed most of the Altstadt (old town), which had been the largest ensemble of half-timbered houses in Germany, as well as most of the churches. The cathedral, which had been converted to a national shrine (German: Nationale Weihestätte) by the Nazi government,Der Dom Sankt Blasius at http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/ (in German). Retrieved on August 11, 2012. still stood. Postwar period to the 21st century After the war, Braunschweig ceased to be a capital when the Free State of Brunswick was dissolved by the Allied occupying authorities (most of its lands were incorporated in the newly formed state of Lower Saxony). The cathedral was restored to its function as a Protestant church. The rebuilding of the city was intended to make it modern and automobile-oriented. A small section of the Altstadt survived the bombing and remains quite distinctive. In the 1990s efforts increased to reconstruct historic buildings that had been destroyed in the air raid. Buildings such as the Alte Waage (originally built in 1534) now stand again in their pre-war glory. Subdivisions Braunschweig is made up of 19 boroughs (German: Stadtbezirke),The 19 boroughs of Braunschweig at www.braunschweig.de which themselves may consist of several quarters (German: Stadtteile)The quarters of Braunschweig at www.braunschweig.de each. The 19 boroughs, with their official numbers, are: Image:Braunschweig Stadtbezirke.png|Boroughs of Braunschweig Image:Braunschweig Stadtteile.png|''Stadtteile'' of Braunschweig Image:Braunschweig Luftaufnahme Innenstadt (2011).JPG|''Innenstadt'' Image:Braunschweig Luftaufnahme Oestliches Ringgebiet (2011).JPG|''Östliches Ringgebiet'' Image:Braunschweig Madamenweg (2010).JPG|''Westliches Ringgebiet'' Image:Braunschweig Weststadt Luftbild.jpg|''Weststadt'' Image:Riddagshausen 5.jpg|''Riddagshausen'' (Wabe-Schunter-Beberbach) 1Formed in 2011 out of the former boroughs of Wabe-Schunter and Bienrode-Waggum-Bevenrode. Main sights * The Burgplatz (Castle Square), comprising a group of buildings of great historical and cultural significance: the Cathedral (St Blasius, built at the end of the 12th century), the Burg Dankwarderode (a 19th-century reconstruction of the old castle of Henry the Lion), the Neo-Gothic Town Hall (built in 1893–1900), as well as some picturesque half-timbered houses, such as the Gildehaus (Guild House), today the seat of the Craftsman's Association. In the centre of the square stands a copy of the Burglöwe, a Romanesque statue of a Lion, cast in bronze in 1166. The original statue can be seen in the museum of Dankwarderode Castle. Today the lion has become the true symbol of Braunschweig. * The Altstadtmarkt ("Old Town market"), surrounded by the Old Town town hall (built between the 13th and the 15th centuries in Gothic style), and the Martinikirche (church of Saint Martin, from 1195), with important historical houses including the Gewandhaus (the former house of the drapers' guild, built sometime before 1268) and the Stechinelli-Haus (built in 1690) and a fountain from 1408. * The Kohlmarkt ("coal market"), a market with many historical houses and a fountain from 1869. * The Magniviertel (St Magnus' Quarter), a remainder of ancient Braunschweig, lined with cobblestoned streets, little shops and cafés, centred around the 13th-century Magnikirche (St Magnus' Church). Here is also the Rizzi-Haus, a highly distinctive, cartoonish office building designed by architect James Rizzi for the Expo 2000. * The Romanesque and Gothic Andreaskirche (church of Saint Andrew), built mainly between the 13th and 16th centuries with stained glass by Charles Crodel. Surrounding the church are the Liberei, the oldest surviving freestanding library building in Germany, and the reconstructed Alte Waage. * The Gothic Aegidienkirche (Church of Saint Giles), built in the 13th century, with an adjoining monastery, which is today a museum. * The Staatstheater (State Theatre), newly built in the 19th century, goes back to the first standing public theatre in Germany, founded in 1690 by Duke Anthony Ulrich. * The ducal palace of Braunschweig was bombed in World War II and demolished in 1960. The exterior was rebuilt to contain a palace museum and shopping centre, which opened in 2007. * The baroque palace Schloss Richmond ("Richmond Palace"), built between 1768 and 1769 with a surrounding English garden for Princess Augusta of Great Britain, wife of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, to remind her of her home in England. * Riddagshausen Abbey (German: Kloster Riddagshausen), a former Cistercian monastery, with the surrounding nature reserve and arboretum. The nature reserve Riddagshäuser Teiche is designated as Important Bird AreaBirdLife Data Zone. Retrieved on November 4, 2012. and Special Protection Area.EUNIS Site factsheet. Retrieved on November 4, 2012. * Parks and gardens in the city include the botanical garden Botanischer Garten der Technischen Universität Braunschweig, founded in 1840 by Johann Heinrich Blasius, the Bürgerpark, the Löwenwall with an obelisk from 1825, and the Inselwallpark. Image:Braunschweig, Rathaus (1).jpg|Town Hall Image:Braunschweig, Handwerkskammer.jpg|''Veltheimsches Haus'' (left) and Gildehaus (right) Image:Braunschweig Altstadtrathaus mit Brunnen.jpg|''Altstadtmarkt'', with Old Town town hall (left), fountain, and Stechinelli-Haus. Image:Braunschweig St.Martini 2005-01-23 (south).jpg|Church of St. Martin Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Ritter St Georg (2006).JPG|''Altstadt'' ("Old Town") Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Haus zum Stern (2004).JPG|Building on Kohlmarkt Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Magni-Kirche Turm Suedosten (2006).JPG|St. Magnus' Church Image:Braunschweig fachwerk 02.jpg|''Magniviertel'' Image:Braunschweig, Happy RIZZI House.jpg|''Rizzi-Haus'' Image:Braunschweig, St. Andreaskirche (2).jpg|''Andreaskirche'' Image:Braunschweig, Alte Waage (1).jpg|''Alte Waage'' Image:Aegidienkirche 03 1a.jpg|Church of St. Giles Image:Braunschweig, Staatstheater.jpg|State Theatre Image:ECE Schloss 06u07 1b.jpg|Rebuild exterior of Brunswick Palace Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Schloss Richmond Frontansicht.jpg|''Schloss Richmond'' (Richmond Palace) Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Klosterkirche Rddagshausen Osten (2006).JPG|Riddagshausen Abbey Image:Botanischer Garten Braunschweig - Wasserfall.jpg|''Botanischer Garten'' Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Portikus Teich Buergerpark (2007).JPG|''Bürgerpark'' Image:Braunschweig park 02.jpg|''Löwenwall'' Image:Inselwallpark Plastik.jpg|''Inselwallpark'' Transport Automobile Two main autobahns serve Braunschweig, the A2 (Berlin—Hanover—Dortmund) and the A39 (Salzgitter—Wolfsburg). City roads are generally wide, built after World War II to support the anticipated use of the automobile. There are several car parks in the city. Bicycle Many residents travel around town by bicycle using an extensive system of bicycle-only lanes. The main train station includes a bicycle parking area. Train The city is on the main rail line between Frankfurt and Berlin. Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) serves the city with local, inter-city and high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains, with frequent stops at Braunschweig Central Station (German: Braunschweig Hauptbahnhof). Tram and bus The city has an inexpensive and extensive 35 km electric tram system. First opened in 1897, it has been modernized, including a 3.2 km extension in 2007. The system has an 1100 mm gauge unique for a European railway or tram system. This is being supplemented in stages by a 1435 mm third rail, to allow future joint working with the main railway network. The municipally owned Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG currently operates five tram lines and several bus lines. The tram lines are:Tram and bus lines in Braunschweig. Retrieved on October 2nd, 2012. Air The Braunschweig Airport (BWE / EDVE) is located north of the city at , elev. Politics City council The council of the city is made up of the fractions of the different parties (54 seats) and the lord mayor, who is elected directly, with one seat. The current lord mayor of Braunschweig is Gert Hoffmann (CDU). Results of the local elections on 11 September 2011:Stadt Braunschweig, Referat Stadtentwicklung und Statistik – Kommunalwahl 2011 – Wahl des Rates – Gesamtergebnis Voter turnout: 49.4%. International relations Braunschweig has 8 sister cities: * Bandung, Indonesia (since 1960) * Nîmes, France (since 1962) * Bath, England, United Kingdom (since 1971) * Sousse, Tunisia (since 1980) * Qiryat Tivon, Israel (since 1985/1986) * Magdeburg, Germany (since 1987) * Kazan, Russian Federation (since 1988) * Omaha, Nebraska, United States (since 1992) Name Many other geographical locations are named after Braunschweig such as New Brunswick in Canada due to the personal union of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover) with Great Britain from 1714 to 1837 (see House of Hanover, also referred to as the House of Brunswick, Hanover line).Canadian Heritage - New Brunswick. Retrieved on August 11, 2012. For a list of places named after Braunschweig see Brunswick (disambiguation). Government offices The offices of the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA, "Federal Aviation Office") and the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) are located in Braunschweig."Location." German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation. Retrieved on February 21, 2009. Research and science ]] Braunschweig has been an important industrial area. Today it is known for its University and research institutes, mainly the Johann Heinrich von Thuenen Institute, the Julius Kühn-Institut, and the Institute for Animal Food of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, until the end of 2007 all part of the Federal Agricultural Research Centre, the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). The PTB Braunschweig maintains the atomic clock responsible for the DCF77 time signal and the official German time. The region of Braunschweig is the most R&D-intensive area in the whole European Economic Area investing 7.1% of its GDP for research & technology. Braunschweig was named Germany's City of Science 2007 ( ). Education Also located in Braunschweig is the Martino-Katharineum, a secondary school founded in 1415. It had such famous pupils as Carl Friedrich Gauss, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Richard Dedekind and Louis Spohr. Since 2004, Braunschweig also has an International School.International School Braunschweig-Wolfsburg. Retrieved on August 15, 2012. Lower Saxony's only university of art, founded in 1963, can be found in Braunschweig, the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (Braunschweig College of Fine Arts). Additionally, one of the campuses of the Eastphalia University of Applied Sciences (German: Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften) is located in the city. Economy Braunschweig was one of the centres of the industrialization in Northern Germany. During the 19th and early 20th century the canning and railroad industries and the sugar production were of great importance for Braunschweig's economy,Industrieller Aufbruch (in German). Retrieved on August 11, 2012. but eventually other branches such as the automotive industry became more important, while especially the canning industry began to vaish from the city after the end of World War II.Nachkriegszeit (in German). Retrieved on August 11, 2012. The defunct truck and bus manufacturer Büssing was headquartered in Braunschweig. Current factories in the city include Volkswagen, Siemens, Bombardier Transportation, and Bosch. The fashion label NewYorker, the publishing house Westermann Verlag, Volkswagen Financial Services and Volkswagen Bank have their headquarters in the city. Also two major optical companies were headquartered in Braunschweig, Voigtländer and Rollei. During the 1980s and early 1990s the computer companies Atari and Commodore International both had branches for development and production within the city.Atari kam aus Braunschweig (in German). Retrieved on January 22, 2013. Commodore bald aus Braunschweig (in German). Published June 6, 1980. Retrieved on January 22, 2013. Braunschweig is the home of two piano companies, both known worldwide for the high quality of their instruments: Schimmel and Grotrian-Steinweg. Both companies were founded in the 19th century. Additionally Sandberg Guitars is based in Braunschweig. Culture , Braunschweig]] Braunschweig is famous for Till Eulenspiegel, a medieval jester who played many practical jokes on its citizens. It also had many breweries, and still a very peculiar kind of beer is made called Mumme, first quoted in 1390, a malt-extract that was shipped all over the world. Two major breweries still produce in Braunschweig, the Hofbrauhaus Wolters, founded in 1627, and the former Feldschlößchen brewery, originally founded in 1871, now operated by Oettinger Beer. Near Braunschweig at Cremlingen-Abbenrode, there is a large medium wave transmitter, which transmits the program of Deutschlandfunk on 756 kHz, the Cremlingen transmitter. Braunschweiger Mettwurst is named after the city. Festivals Schoduvel, a medieval Northern German form of carnival was celebrated in Braunschweig as early as the 13th century. Since 1979 an annual Rosenmontag parade is held in Braunschweig, the largest in Northern Germany, which is named Schoduvel in honour of the medieval custom. An annual Weihnachtsmarkt (christmas market) is held in late November and December on the Burgplatz in the centre of Braunschweig. In 2008 the market had 900,000 visitors. Museums and galleries The city's most important museum is the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, a well known art museum and the oldest public museum in Germany, founded in 1754. It houses a collection of masters of Western art, including Dürer, Giorgione, Cranach, Holbein, Van Dyck, Vermeer, Rubens, and Rembrandt. It is currently closed for renovation until 2014. The State Museum of Brunswick (Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum), founded in 1891, houses a permanent collection documenting the history of the Brunswick area ranging from its early history to the present. The Municipal Museum of Brunswick (Städtisches Museum Braunschweig), founded in 1861, is a museum for art and cultural history, documenting the history of the city of Braunschweig. The State Natural History Museum is a zoology museum founded in 1754. Other museums in the city include the Museum of Photography (Museum für Photographie), the Jewish Museum (Jüdisches Museum), the Museum for Agricultural Technology Gut Steinhof, and the Gerstäcker-Museum. Frequent exhibitions of contemporary art are also held by the Art Society of Braunschweig (German: Kunstverein Braunschweig), housed in the Villa Salve Hospes, a classicist villa built between 1805 and 1808. Music and dance The Braunschweig Classix Festival was an annual classical music festival. It is the largest promoter of classical music in the region and one of the most prominent music festivals in Lower Saxony. From 2001 to 2009, and again since 2013, the annual finals of the international breakdance competition Battle of the Year have been held at the Volkswagen Halle in Braunschweig. Braunschweiger TSC is among the leading competitive formation dance teams in the world and has won multiple World and European championship titles. Sports thumb|right|The first German version of the rules of football by Konrad Koch Braunschweig's major local football (soccer) team is Eintracht Braunschweig. Founded in 1895, the club can look back on a long and chequered history. It won the German football championship in 1967. Despite playing the German 2nd division now (as of the 2012–2013 season), the club still attracts a large number of supporters. Braunschweig was also arguably the city in which the first ever game of football in Germany took place. The game had been brought to Germany by the local school teacher Konrad Koch, also the first to write down a German version of the rules of football,However, Koch's original German version of the rules of football, published in 1875, still resembled Rugby football - the unmodified rules of The Football Association weren't commonly used in Germany before the 1900s. who organized the first match between pupils from his school Martino-Katharineum in 1874. The New Yorker Lions (formerly Braunschweig Lions) are the city's American football team, winning a record number of seven German Bowl titles, as well as two Eurobowls. The city's professional basketball team, the Phantoms Braunschweig, plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the highest level in Germany. Other sports in which Braunschweig has or had bundesliga or 2nd bundesliga teams include field hockey (Eintracht Braunschweig and Braunschweiger THC), ice hockey (Eintracht Braunschweig), volleyball (USC Braunschweig), field handball (Eintracht Braunschweig), team handball (MTV Braunschweig and SV Süd Braunschweig), rugby union (Welfen SC Braunschweig), water polo (Eintracht Braunschweig), and baseball (Spot up 89ers). Annual sporting events held in Braunschweig include the international equestrian tournament Löwen Classics, Rund um den Elm, Germany's oldest road bicycle race, and the professional tennis tournament Sparkassen Open. Notable people See also: Notable people associated with Braunschweig include: See also *Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg Notes References External links |Braunschweig}} *Official website *Braunschweig – 360° Panoramas *Daily newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung Category:Braunschweig Category:Capitals of former nations Category:Members of the Hanseatic League